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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29990112">Fistfuls of Nettles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreadPirateMumbles/pseuds/DreadPirateMumbles'>DreadPirateMumbles</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5, Persona Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Beaches, Day At The Beach, Gen, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:28:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,989</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29990112</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreadPirateMumbles/pseuds/DreadPirateMumbles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Every person's body has places where the hands of those most important to them will grace their skin.  Goro wonders why he doesn't seem to have the most important of marks.</p><p>[A look at Marigolds, through the eyes of a soulmate AU]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>109</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Inspired by marigolds</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fistfuls of Nettles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/21681676">marigolds</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/colbub/pseuds/colbub">colbub</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Even more fanfiction of fanfiction? What impiety!</p><p>Seriously though, if you haven't already caught up on Marigolds by Colbub, this will not make any sense. Go read it!! (at least until ch 48)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After everything- <em>after</em> <em>saving a woman from being assaulted, being screamed at, arrested, charged, and enduring the most painful phone call and subsequent car ride with his parents, another phone call like a breath of air after almost drowning-</em> Akira finally, <em>finally</em>, was able to take a minute to breathe.</p><p><em>A shower,</em> he thought.  A shower would drown out the echo of his mother’s voice in his ears-</p><p>
  <em>“Why are you like this, Akira?! Why couldn’t you be normal and mind your own business?”</em>
</p><p>Normal.  Why did they always want him to be normal?  Normal was boring!  Normal was like being an accountant like Satou-kun’s parents; normal was graduating college just to get a desk job at a business, filling out paperwork that didn’t even need to exist. </p><p>Akechi Goro was not normal.  A police intern only a year ahead of Akira, with lovely brown hair and heart-stopping eyes.  Intriguing, clever…</p><p>
  <em>“We're friends, aren't we?”</em>
</p><p>A precious someone who didn’t judge him, who let him speak.</p><p>No, Akechi Goro was not normal, and Akira, well, Akira didn’t want to be normal either.</p><p> </p><p>His parents had always wanted him to act normal, but Akira didn’t see the point in it- he wasn’t normal.  Not a single handprint colored his skin, a fact noted down by the officers at the station-</p><p>
  <em>“-no soulmarks, no wonder he ended up assaulting someone-“</em>
</p><p>Normally, people had several handprints on their bodies, where the hand of a soulmate would eventually land, filling in the mark with vibrant color.  “Normal” people usually had 5-10 soulmarks, with more being a sign of someone being successful and well adjusted (<em>and fewer supposedly meant social deviancy or sociopathy</em>).  In Western cultures, especially, soulmarks were something to display and be proud of, but fortunately (at least, in the opinion of Akira’s parents), soulmarks were considered private in Japan, and many people wore undergarments meant to cover them when in public. </p><p>Thus, Akira, with his completely bare skin, could pretend that he had soulmarks by always wearing such clothing.</p><p>It was these same garments that he was now removing, intent on the hottest shower possible, hoping the sting of hot water would be a sufficient distraction, when he noticed a flash of color out of the corner of his eye-</p><p>…<strong><em>What???</em></strong></p><p>Handprints, dozens of them, appeared over his skin, the outlines of not-yet-filled hands caressing his arms, legs, back, and one…</p><p>One mark right over his heart, the outline the exact shade of a certain detective’s eyes.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><em>Handprints are such curious things, </em>Minato had said.  <em>Who tells our bodies where to place them, what color to use?  </em></p><p><em>Given the existence of the cognitive world, I can only imagine they are related,</em> Goro replied.  Minato smiled and nodded. </p><p>A pause, and then Goro continued, <em>Though, the thought of a higher being even beyond your knowledge is disconcerting, especially given the control they seem to have over our bodies.  </em></p><p>He tried not to be bitter, thinking about the state of his own skin- two measly marks- one delicate handprint on his back, rose pink, mottled ever since the day his mother died; a jet black handprint on his left shoulder courtesy of his despicable excuse of a father.  He had been so proud when it had filled in, thinking that he had finally earned his place as his father’s right-hand man, thinking that he was finally in position to exact his revenge.</p><p>What a fool he had been. He’d been nothing more than a particularly useful tool- eager to please and easy to manipulate. </p><p><em>Goro? </em>Minato surely had noticed him lost in his thoughts.</p><p>Giving himself one a mental shake, Goro responded, <em>I wonder… would we have soul marks for each other?  If we were both alive, that is.</em></p><p><em>Ah, </em>Minato hummed<em>, I like to think we would.  Though, I don’t need a handprint to tell me that you’re important to me.  </em></p><p>Goro still wasn’t used to this open, easy affection from Minato, but his statement still warmed his heart (<em>what remained of it after that gunshot-</em>).</p><p>Then, an instant and an eternity later…</p><p>
  <em>Hey, Goro.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Want a second chance?</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>In hindsight, it was a good thing that he hadn’t changed after getting back from his contract signing with Shido, because he had no idea how he would’ve behaved normally in front of Shido’s goons after discovering what he had just found.</p><p>Foreign soulmarks covered his body- he counted nearly two dozen total handprints, including the two he had when he died, practically a rainbow of color swathed over his skin- orange, green, blue, purple, yellow, grey, each with a variety of shades.</p><p>One handprint specifically stood out- right where he had been shot, right over his heart, lay a handprint with a dusky blue outline (<em>the same color as Minato’s hair-)</em></p><p>Unbidden, a smile cracked across his face as he placed his hand over the handprint on his chest and Goro hummed to himself, “I guess this means you need to come back properly, Minato.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Goro had spent far more of his time thinking about his soul marks than was probably advisable, given his packed schedule, but it had preoccupied his thoughts since he had found himself back in the world of the living.  Over the past two years, many of his marks had been filled. </p><p>Forest green was Wakaba, her handprint placed firmly in the center of his back where she’d slapped him to get him to stop being “such a stick in the mud”.</p><p>Futaba, lime green handprint smaller and further down his back, filling in when she embraced him when he rescued her from Youji Ishikki’s house.</p><p>Atsuzawa’s steel grey hand on his right shoulder blade. </p><p>Hikaru’s orange hand on his right wrist from when he had dragged them to the Jazz club, bright and vibrant as his name.</p><p>A soft pastel green suffused into a handprint on his left forearm from Saito’s grip as they visited the church in Kanda.</p><p>Yusuke’s fingers curled around his left wrist as he enthusiastically pulled Goro to a convenience store for bento, leaving royal blue splashing across his skin.</p><p>Haru’s delicate hand came with a lavender handprint on his left elbow.</p><p>The strong grip of Hinata Osumi’s hand on his leg, filling in a peach handprint.</p><p>Sae’s hand on his right shoulder, a light cream color, the angel to the devil on his left.</p><p>Jose’s golden hand in the center of his chest (<em>“That’s where our thread is connected!”</em>)</p><p>Shiho’s dove grey on his right forearm.</p><p>Goro was fortunate that his marks could be easily covered by the special undergarments meant to hide soulmarks- if he’d had a soulmark on his hands or face, it would have been much more difficult to conceal their existence, and Goro wanted to sequester away his soulmarks from those who would do anything to manipulate him.  Honestly, he had worn the undergarments in his past life anyway- he did not want anyone to know how few soulmarks he actually had, plus being in the public eye so often gave him a very valid excuse to keep himself covered.</p><p>But, if he was honest with himself, the reason why he had been so preoccupied with his soulmarks was the fact that he did not seem to have one for someone who he should have.  Observing the other Thieves seemed to indicate that Akira’s handprint was a bright cherry red, but that exact shade was absent from his skin.  <em>What if it’s because of my previous life? </em>He found himself questioning often, <em>what if my actions then are irreversible?  What if I can never atone for what I’ve done?  What if my soul mark for Akira is gone because it would have been for the other Akira?</em></p><p>Intellectually, Goro dismissed such thoughts immediately.  The presence of several other marks on his skin were testaments to his actions changing the course of fate (Haru’s lavender, Wakaba’s forest green, Futaba’s lime green) and soulmarks were just that- just marks.  However, emotions were not always bound to listen to logic, and the thoughts intruded more than he would like.  However, one spiraling thought couldn’t be dismissed-</p><p>
  <em>What if Akira does not carry my handprint as well?</em>
</p><p>His Akira had certainly never mentioned whether he carried Akechi’s mark (and, honestly, at the time, Akechi didn’t even know what color his handprint even <em>was</em>, given he was too young to remember his mark on his mother, so it’s not as if it would be simple to find out), but so far this Akira had not said anything either.  His handprint had filled in on a few people (a maroon hand on the palm of Takaki, dangling off the edge of a building; another on the arm of Saito, and a nearly matching one for Hinata-san; a handprint like blood on Wakaba’s shoulder <em>as smoke and fire and blood filled the air-</em>), but Akira’s insistence on keeping his marks well covered meant he couldn’t even look for it covertly. </p><p>Unrequited marks were not particularly uncommon (in fact, Takaki had not filled in any of Akechi’s own marks), and often signified one person having a significant impact on the other’s life without the inverse also being true.  Goro hoped that, even if the cosmos seemed to think that Akira did not have any impact on him (<em>what a joke, as if there was anyone other than Minato who had had as big of an impact on Goro’s life as Akira</em>), then he at least would have impacted Akira’s life enough to leave a mark, physical proof that Goro mattered to him as much as Akira mattered to Goro. </p><p><strong>Enough of this fettering nonsense</strong>, Morrigan spoke.  <strong>It is time to get back to work.</strong></p><p><em>Indeed</em>, he thought.  <em>I am the one in control of my fate this time.  The soulmarks don’t matter- actions do.</em></p><p>
  
</p><hr/><p> </p><p><em>Being friends with an Okumura certainly has some perks…</em> Akira thought, looking out at the section of private beach that Haru had rented.  <em>This is so much nicer than a public beach, plus-</em> Akira looked over at his friends, trying to coax Goro into removing the extra beach towels he’d strategically wrapped around his body. </p><p>Earlier...</p><p><em>“Uhm, Akira?”  Goro’s voice called through the door of the room they’d all used to change, “I seem to be </em>missing<em> some of my garments.” </em></p><p>
  <em>Akira hummed, then responded, “What do you need?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A cough, and then, “Ah, my soulmark undergarments seem to no longer be in my bag, nor my shirt…” a muttered curse accompanied by a name that sounded suspiciously like <strong>Futaba</strong>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hmm.  That could be a bit problematic to replace, Akira mused.  Because they were on a private beach, the other Thieves had opted to not bother with soulmark undergarments, given that most of their soulmarks were for each other.  Even Akira himself had instead opted for just a loose shirt.  Additionally, the private beach was a non-insignificant distance away from any sort of shopping center to replace them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“…unfortunately, I think you might be out of luck there,” he finally responded.  “Best I can do is borrow you a shirt.”  Akira didn’t mention that it’d be his own shirt that he’d be borrowing- Goro would be too self-sacrificial to take it otherwise.  He tugged it off, over his head, and opened his door enough to stick his hand in with the shirt.  “Here.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Thanks.”  There was some rustling, and after a few minutes, Goro opened the door-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Akira couldn’t help it, he snorted.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Goro had wrapped a beach towel around each arm and was glaring at him.  “Glad to know someone finds my troubles amusing,” he snarked, though one corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Come on, Goro,” Akira chuckled, tugging on one of his arms, “Take that off, it’s just us.  Have some fun.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I assure you, I am perfectly capable of having fun like this,” Goro said in his haughty voice, nose pointed up slightly, before he turned his eyes to Akira, smirk on full display. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Alright, Mr. Fun Haver.  Let’s go find the others.”</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Aha!!” came the triumphant cry from the Ann-Futaba tag team.  Each held up their prize- one of the beach towels from Goro’s arms- and Goro’s face was approximately neutral with an undercurrent of “you’re lucky I like you”.  An instant later, though, Akira found his gaze slipping from Goro’s face to the recently revealed skin, a patchwork of color across his limbs.</p><p>“Oh wow!” Ann exclaimed, “You have a lot of soul marks, just like Akira!”</p><p>Mona spoke up from his place in Haru’s arms (<em>firmly away from the sand, thank you very much</em>), “It probably has something to do with them having multiple personas!” </p><p>Akira twirled a finger through his hair nervously now that all his teammate’s eyes were on him- <em>Goro’s eyes were on him, looking straight at-</em></p><p>
  <em>Straight at-</em>
</p><p><em>Oh. Fuck. </em> </p><p>He was supposed to wear the shirt for a reason, and that reason was staring him down, eyes on one specific handprint right over his heart.</p><p>“Uhhh…” he said, ineloquently, face burning.  He hoped his blush could be written off as due to the heat. </p><p>Akira was saved from death by embarrassment by his official best friend ever, Ryuji, who barreled into the conversation with, “Come <em>on!</em>  Stop standing around and let’s go swimming!!”  Cheers from the other Thieves chimed in, as well as Makoto calling, “Don’t forget to put on sunscreen!”</p><p>Akira let himself be tugged into the waves, even as he still felt eyes on his back.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Come <em>oooooooon </em>GA, what’s the point of coming to the beach if you’re not going to go swimming at least once?”  Futaba whined, tugging on one of his arms ineffectually.  “You said you knew how to swim!”</p><p>Goro sighed, “Futaba, is it not enough that I don’t feel like swimming right now?”</p><p>“Yeah, because you only don’t feel like it because you’re self-conscious!  I know you!!  Come on, no one cares-“ a cough from Makoto, “-well, no one cares as long as you put on sunscreen.”  Futaba tugged on his arm again, only to lose balance and faceplant in the sand as Goro stood up from his towel.  A quick look to Makoto got him a bottle of sunscreen thrown into his face and a non-apologetic look from Queen herself. </p><p>“Have fun you two!” Makoto called, as Futaba frantically pushed Goro out from under the umbrellas towards the water muttering ‘<em>go go go</em>’!</p><p>“Hold on, Futaba!” Goro complained, “I need to put sunscreen on first.  Give me a few minutes.”</p><p>Futaba pouted and then huffed.  “Well, ok. Two minutes tops, GA, before I get the others to help me drag you into the ocean!”</p><p>Two minutes later, Goro stood at the edge of the water, shirt off and sunscreen on.  He felt so exposed, with all his soulmarks on display, but none of the Thieves seemed to be paying attention to him at the moment.  Futaba was suspiciously quiet, however-</p><p>“That’s Mom’s mark, isn’t it?” Her voice came from behind him, quiet.  Without turning around, Goro nodded.</p><p>Futaba appeared in his peripheral, her hand on her shoulder.  “Mom’s mark is here.” Her hand moved, further down to the center of her back, “And yours is here.” </p><p>The waves crashed against the shore, filling the air for several moments.</p><p>“Thank you again, GA.  For everything.”  Futaba’s brown eyes met his, a connection he couldn’t seem to break.  The words he had been hiding, ever since the revelation that Shion was his brother, fought for freedom, and it took all he had in him to not let them spill into the salty sea air.</p><p>“…Come on,” he finally said.  “You said you wanted to go swimming, right?”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The sun dipped low into the sky, bringing with it a slight chill on the ocean breeze, and the Thieves took comfort around a campfire Haru and Akira had assembled, taking seats on blankets, chairs, and coolers.</p><p>“This was such an awesome day!”  Ann said, voice relaxed and happy as if she’d eaten an entire table of sweets.</p><p>“Yes, this was an excellent break!” Haru agreed, brushing Mona’s fur as he slept in her lap.</p><p>Akira, seated next to him, leaned over to ask, “Did you enjoy yourself today?”</p><p>“Of course,” Goro replied, “Though unfortunately I think I ended up with a sunburn by the end of it.”</p><p>Makoto spoke serenely from her spot next to Haru, “I told you to reapply your sunscreen,” voice tinged with as much “I Told You So” as she could fit in while still sounding polite.</p><p>Ann stretched back onto her beach towel, eyes seeking out the stars that were starting to show in the sky.  “I don’t want things to end just yet, though.  We should do something fun together before we head in for the night!”</p><p>“But what should we do?”  Yusuke mused.</p><p>“Oh, I know!”  Ann shot up, smile mischievous.  “There’s some people here who haven’t filled in their Phantom Thieves’ marks!”  Ann’s eyes landed on Goro, then switched to Haru.  “Come on!  Let’s do it!”</p><p>Haru giggled, and held her arm over to Akira, who dutifully placed his hand on the hand outlined in cherry red.  “Oh, this is so neat!”  she exclaimed, before shrinking in on herself a little.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  I just haven’t had many soulmarks filled before- for the longest time, I only had Akechi-kun.” </p><p>“There’s no shame in being excited, Haru-san,” Goro spoke up, catching her eyes.  She nodded.</p><p>“Yes, I suppose not…”</p><p>“Okay!!” Ann cheered, “Time to fill in my mark!”  Goro froze as a hand smacked into his left bicep, causing the tingling associated soulmate contact on a filled mark, and Ann’s momentum carried her forward where she placed her other hand on Haru’s right shoulder.  Two baby blue handprints filled in in her wake. “Okay, now fill in yours for me!”</p><p>Goro dutifully held out his hand, and Ann placed it around her right elbow, letting the maroon fill in.</p><p>And thus, it proceeded for the rest of the Thieves- Yusuke received a maroon handprint on a shoulder; Ryuji got one on his leg and left a bright yellow handprint on Goro’s other bicep.  Makoto left a royal purple handprint on the inside of his right forearm and he left a similar one on her. </p><p>Throughout all of this, Goro avoided looking at Akira.  He wanted to know if the mark over Akira’s heart was his, desperately, but he absolutely did <em>not</em> want to find out that he had an unreciprocated mark in front of all the other Thieves. </p><p>Fortunately, Haru came to his rescue.  “Well!” she said, popping up from her chair, “I think it’s time for us to get some refreshments.  Ryuji-kun, Yusuke-kun, could you help me carry the coolers back to the house?” </p><p>“Sure!”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>Ann, who had been glancing between Goro and Akira with increasingly suspicious looks, seemed to come to some sort of conclusion and clambered off her beach towel.  “I’ll go too!  I want to change into something warmer!”</p><p>Makoto stood up, “That certainly sounds like a sensible option if we’re going to stay out here for a while,” She put a hand on Futaba’s shoulder and tugged.  “Come on, I’m not returning you to Boss with a cold.”</p><p>Futaba, of course, complained, but after some conspicuous eyebrow wriggling from Ann she decided to head back to the house as well, leaving Akira and Goro all by themselves.</p><p>“They’re not nearly as clever about that as they think they are,” Goro huffed, amused. </p><p>Akira turned to him, smile bright and open, “They’re really not, but I guess you’ll just have to teach them to be more subtle.” </p><p>Goro’s eyes dropped to the maroon-lined hand on Akira’s chest again.  He wanted so badly to touch it, to watch the color flood onto Akira’s skin.  He wanted to forget that his skin did not carry the handprint he wanted most, so he could enjoy the proof of being connected with Akira.</p><p>“Something on your mind, Goro?”  Akira breathed, and Goro returned his eyes to Akira’s, surprised at how close Akira was, suddenly.  One of Akira’s hands reached out and laid across Goro’s right hand, applying the lightest pressure, and- “You can go ahead and touch it,” he murmured, slowly, <em>achingly slowly</em> pulling Goro’s hand to his chest. </p><p>Goro’s hand made contact with the handprint on Akira’s chest, and initially, all he could think was that it felt like normal skin contact, but the knowledge that this was <em>Akira</em>, his heart beating under Goro’s touch, skin coloring with the mark that Akira belonged to <em>him-!</em></p><p>Goro’s breath caught, eyes unable to move away from Akira’s own silver gaze. </p><p>Akira’s voice tumbled through the air-</p><p>“Goro,” he asked, voice almost pleading, “Goro, can I kiss you?”</p><p>The world stopped, for a moment.  In it, he realized something.  Even without the mark, even without this being his old Akira, Goro <em>wanted.</em>  He wanted this Akira more than he had wanted anything else in his life.</p><p>Time resumed, and he nodded.  “<em>Please</em>.”</p><p>They closed the short distance between them, lips meeting gently at first.  Goro felt his eyes slip closed, and Akira shifted to more properly face him.  Akira’s arm snaked up Goro’s side before finding the back of his neck and drifting up into his hair.</p><p>Having Akira hold him like this, feeling their bodies pressed together and the contact of their lips… Goro had never felt more alive.  It felt like his skin was on fire in the most pleasant of ways, and he couldn’t stop a shudder running down his spine.</p><p>The world could have ended and Goro wouldn’t care.  All he cared about was Akira.  He wanted to hold on to him and never let go.  He wanted to feel this amazing for the rest of his life.</p><p>Unfortunately, Goro needed to breathe, and with great reluctance, he pulled away from Akira’s lips.  Akira’s hand was still caught in his hair, his hand still on Akira’s chest, and he felt his heart rate slow down to something more appropriate.  Akira’s cheeks were flushed, and Goro decided that it was an excellent look on him.  He pulled away reluctantly- the only thing he wanted more than to keep kissing Akira was to <em>not</em> be found kissing Akira by the other Thieves.</p><p>Akira’s hand finally slipped from his hair, and the feeling of his skin on fire slipped away as well, as if taken away like another phantom limb.</p><p>
  <em>Wait.</em>
</p><p>Goro’s breath caught in his chest, and before he could help it, he started laughing.</p><p>“Goro?” Akira asked, concerned, but Goro just waived his concern off.</p><p>“It’s nothing serious, I promise,” he chuckled.  At Akira’s questioning glance, he continued, “I was worried that I would not have a reciprocal mark for you.  Instead, it seems I was just unlucky enough to just never come across it.”  He swiveled in his seat.  “Could you do me a favor and look at the back of my head?” he asked, sweeping his hair to one side with a hand.</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>Goro felt the soft but confident hands card through his hair again, and then Akira’s hand was pressed firmly against his head once more, bringing the tingles of soulmate contact with it once again.</p><p>Goro couldn’t help but laugh, again, too many emotions flowing through him that they spilled out into the air.  Akira’s arms wound around him, and he placed a kiss at the bottom of Goro’s hairline. </p><p>They stayed like that until the rest of the Thieves returned.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Goro put his hand over his heart as he waited for the others.  The Sea felt different today- hopeful, somehow, as if it was reacting to wishes of those involved in today’s mission.  Someone called out his name, and, before turning to meet them, Goro whispered one thing into the endless Sea.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re coming for you, Minato.”</p><p>Goro had one more soulmark to fill, after all. </p>
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